Rotor construction



April 2, 1963 c. P. KOLTHOFF, JR., ETAL 3,033,762

ROTOR CONSTRUCTION Filed April 18, 1960 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 13V l/EA/J'OE5 GPQUA. 260 4 7710 April 2, 1963 c. P. KOLTHOFF, JR., ETAL 3,033,762

ROTOR CONSTRUCTION 2 Sheets-Sheet. 2

Filed April 18, 1960 lll l'l lI'lllllllll'lllllll n r 1 l I 1 kl um I 1 mm LTHO AITOENE lllllllllll IH lhH I 2 United States Patent )fitice new Patented Apr. 2, 1963 3,083,762 ROTOR CONSTRUCTION C. Paul Kolthoff, Jra, Naperville, and Mack M. Jones,

Western Springs, 111., assignors to International Harvester Company, Chicago, 111., a corporation of New Jersey Filed Apr. 18, 1960, Ser. No. 23,083 2 Claims. (Cl. 165-45) This invention relates to a rotor for a rotary regenerator or heat exchanger. More in particular this invention relates to a rotor cage having removably secured sections or matrices of radial flow heat exchanging media.

Heretofore the construction of heat regenerator rotors comprised a unitary constructed matrix of hollow cylindrical shape. The difliculty with such construction is that after a period of use the rotor becomes warped or the matrix becomes warped resulting in progressively increasing leakage between the sealing shoes. This is due to the radial temperature gradient of the matrix. Also, there are other causes for such warpage of the matrix such as thermal fatigue and corrosion. In any event when warpage occurs the efficiency of the regenerator is reduced from gas leakage across the sealing members and more power is required to rotate the drum. In the event of excessive warpage, extreme damage may occur to the unit.

It is a primary object of this invention to overcome the aforementioned difficulties by providing a rotor having a matrix comprising individual replaceable sections.

A further object of this invention is to provide a rotor according to the preceding object wherein each of the replaceable sections of the matrix comprises a plurality of replaceable leaves in contiguous relation, each leaf being provided with a plurality of radial passages for elastic fluid flow therethrough in heat exchange relation.

. A still further object of the invention is to provide a cage in the rotor having removable tie-bars so that sections or leaves of the matrix according to the preceding objects may be removed and replaced.

These and other important and desirable objects inherent in and encompassed by the invention will be more readily understood from the ensuing description, the appended claims and the annexed drawings wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevation, in section, of a gas turbine engine with rotary regenerator having the housing or casing removed illustrating the rotor and partition means forming a pair of fluid chambers.

FIGURE 2 is an end elevation of the rotary regenerator, in section and partly broken away, taken on line 2-2 of FIGURE 1 illustrating the rotor of this invention positioned in the regenerator.

FIGURE 3 is a side elevation of the cage of the rotor with matrix removed illustrating the construction details thereof.

FIGURE 4 is a sectional view taken on line 4-4 of FIGURE 3 showing further details of the cage construction.

FIGURE 5 is a perspective view of a corrugated element employed according to this invention to provide passages for fluid flow through the matrix.

FIGURE 6 is a perspective view of a plate member for spacing, circumferentially, the corrugated elements of FIGURE 5.

FIGURE 7 illustrates a radial view of a leaf of the matrix showing the arrangement of a corrugated element and a plate member as components of a leaf.

FIGURE 8 is a view, partly broken away, of the leaf of FIGURE 7 but in a circumferential direction.

FIGURE 9 is a view, partly broken away, similar to FIGURE 3 except that the matrix sections are included.

FIGURE 10 is an enlarged sectional view and partly broken away taken on line 1010 of FIGURE 9 illustrating the arrangement of leaves of the matrix and a tiebar of the rotor cage.

FIGURE 11 is a sectional view partly broken away taken on line 11-11 of FIGURE 10 illustrating the means for retaining the leaves of the matrix in the rotor cage.

With continued reference to the drawings, numeral 16 (FIGURE 1) indicates in general a turbine having a rotary regenerator indicated at 11 embodying the present invention. The turbine may comprise a first impeller wheel 12 drivingly connected to an air compressor indicated at 13 through the shaft 14 supported by conventional bearings (not shown). A second impeller wheel 15 may also be provided for performing work on a given load through the output shaft 16. The air compressor 13 is provided with the usual air inlet 17 and air outlet 13. The air outlet is communicatively connected to the cold air plenum 18 of the rotary regenerator 11 through the cold air conduit 19. Cold air under pressure entering the plenum 18 passes through the matrices, generally indicated at 20, of a cylindrically shaped heat exchanger or rotor generally indicated at 21. into a hot air plenum 22 disposed within the rotor 21. The rotor 21 is rotatably mounted within the casing 23 of the rotary regenerator 11.

Within the rotor 21 mounted in stationary relation with respect to the shaft 14 and rotor 21 is a wall or partition 24 as best shown in FIGURE 2. The wall 24 extends longitudinally through the rotor 21 and connects to the rear and front portions of the casing 23. Adjacent the longitudinal sides of the walls 24 is a pair of sealing members, generally indicated at 25 and 26, mounted in stationary relation. Each of the sealing members 25 and 26 is provided with an opening for accommodating the rotor 21 in a rotating direction in substantially sealing relation whereby compressed air in the cold air plenum 18 is not communicated with the cooled exhaust plenum 27 and the hot air plenum 22 is not in fluid communica tion with the hot exhaust plenum 2S.

- The rotor 21 is rotatably supported by three longitudinally extending rollers 25!, 3t and 31 as shown in FIG- URE 2. At least one of the rollers 29, 3t] and 31, such as roller 29, is provided with a pinion gear 32.

Referring to FIGURES 3 and 9, the rotor may be provided with a ring gear 33 having circumferential teeth in engageable relation with the pinion gear 32 positioned on the roller 29. Obviously the driving means may be associated with roller 30 or roller 31 if desired. Thus the rotor 21 is supported for driven rotation about its cylindrical axis.

Within or adjacent to the hot air plenum 22 is mounted a conventional fuel combustor generally indicated at 34 having its fuel inlet at 35. The fuel and hot air mixture is burned in the combustor 34 and the products of combustion are directed into the chamber generally indicated as 35' having turbine nozzles 36 and 37. The movement of the products of combustion in the chamber 35 to the hot exhaust chamber 38 performs useful work on the turbines impeller wheels 12 and 15 in a known manner. The hot exhaust gases in the chamber 38 enter the hot exhaust plenum 23 of the rotary regenerator 11 and pass radially through the matrices 20 of the rotor 21 into the cooled exhaust plenum 27 and thence discharged through the port 39.

From the above it can readily be seen that as the hot exhaust gases in the plenum 28 are passed through the adjacent matrices 20 of the rotor 21, the matrices absorb heat and thus become hot. When the rotor 21 is rotated in either of the two directions, such as for example clockwise as viewed in FIGURE 2, the heated sectors or matrices of the rotor 21 pass through the sealing member 26 and move into the portion of the regenerator 11 between the plenums 18 land 22. Compressed air from the plenum 18 passes radially through the hot matrices 20 of the rotor 21 absorbing heat therefrom thus elevating the temperature of the compressed air upon reaching the plenum 22. It is evident that the portion of the matrix 20 nearest the inside surface of the regenerator rotor 21 will be considerably hotter than the portion of the matrix 20 adjacent to the outer diameter. The preheated air in the plenum 22 supplied to the combustor 34 serves not only to reduce the amount of heat which must be supplied by the combustor, but also improves the eificiency of the combustor 34. Thus the primary purpose of the regenerator 11 is to transfer waste heat from the hot exhaust gases to the compressed air before entering the fuel combusting device.

In view of the foregoing it can be readily appreciated that the construction of the rotor 21 of the regenerator 11 for efiiciently serving as a heat transferring medium is extremely important and is the subject matter to which this invention is directed.

The rotor 21 comprises a pair of annular shaped rings 40 and 41 disposed in axially spaced relation as best shown in FIGURE 3. For convenience the ring 41 may be provided with peripherally disposed gear 33 for engagement with the pinion 32 in driven relation as previously discussed. The inner side of ring 40 is provided with a plurality of radial slots in equidistant relation, two of which are shown at 42 in FIGURE 3. The ring 41 is also provided With an equal number of radial slots 43 on the inner side thereof positioned in longitudinal complementary relations with the slots 42 of ring .40. In each pair of complementary slots 42 and 43 is disposed slidably a tie-bar 44 the sides of which are radial with respect to the center of the cage, as shown in FIGURE 4.' Thus it will be seen in the embodiment shown that seven tie-bars 44 are employed. Of course it will be understood that the rotor 21 may have more or less than seven tiebars as may be desirable but at least two of them. If desired the slots 42 and 43 and the tie-bars 44 may be tapered in a radial direction. The tie-bars 44 are removably secured in the slots 42 and 43 by any conventional means such as body-fitted screws, some of which are indicated at 45 and 46 of FIGURE 3, in countersunk bores in rings 40 and 41 in registry with threaded bores in the ends of each tie-bar 44. Thus upon removal of the screws 45 and 46 the tie-bars 44 can be removed individually from the rings 40 and 41 by sliding outwardly in the slots 42 and 43. From this it can be seen that the assembly of the rings 40 and 41 and the tie-bars secured thereto forms a cage generally indicated at 47 best shown in FIGURE 3. At this point it will be noted that between any pair of adjacent tie-bars 44 with the inner faces of the rings 40 and 41 therebetween defines a sector-shaped radial opening 48 in the cage 47. Thus in the illustration shown in FIGURES 3 and 4 the cage 47 has seven openings 48.

On the inner face of the ring 41 there is disposed a circumferential groove 49 as best shown in FIGURE 4. The ring 40 on the inner face thereof is also provided with a circumferential groove 50 positioned in complementary relation with the groove 49 as indicated in dotted lines in FIGURE 3. The purpose of the grooves 49 and 50 will-be described later.

Within each of the sector-shaped openings 48 there is disposed at sector-shaped matrix indicated at 20. Thus in the embodiment shown there is provided seven sectorshaped matrices 20 forming the matrix of the rotor 21. Each matrix 20 is comprised of a plurality of leaves, one of which is indicated at 51 in FIGURES 7 and 8 disposed side-by-side in closely packed relation between two adjacent tie-bars 44 as shown in FIGURES 2, 9 and 10. Each leaf 51 is comprised of a rectangular shaped plate member 52 having a pair or more of longitudinal channels 53 formed therein in parallel spaced relation as best seen in FIGURES 6 and 8. Secured to one longitudinal side of the plate member 52 is a corrugated element 54 illustrated in FIGURES S and 7. The direction 'of the corrugations of the element 54 are positioned transversely with respect to the channels 53 of the plate member 52. Securing of the element 54 to the plate member 52 may be by any conventional means such as spot welding the element 54 to the surface 55 of the plate 52 as at points 56 (FIGURES 6 and 8).

The purpose of the channels 53 in the plate member 52 may be evident from a close examination of FIG- URE 10. It will be noted that the thickness of each leaf 51 at the outer peripheral surface of the rotor 21 is greater than that at the internal surface. Therefore in order to provide an assembly consisting of a plurality of leaves 51 packed together in side-by-side relation to form a sector shaped assembly, each of the leaves 51 must necessarily be radially tapered or wedge-shaped as shown in FIGURE 10. Radial planes which intersect at the rotational axis of the rotor 21 are indicated at 57 and 57'. Thus it will be seen that the plane formed by the outer surfaces 58 of the channels 53 in the plate member 52 coincides with radial plane 57" intersecting the axis of rotation of the rotor 21. Likewise the extreme outer edges of the corrugations of the element 54 also coincides with radial plane 57 intersecting the axis of rotation of rotor thus making each leaf 51 tapered or wedge-shaped in a radial direction. From the standpoint of cost it is cheaper to employ commonly available corrugated metal material wherein all edges formed by the corrugations are parallel to each other. Alternatively of course the corrugated elements could be made, if desired, in a radially tapered form such as by a special forming die. In the embodiment shown the element 54 (FIGURE 5) is cut from material having all corrugated edges parallel to each other. From this it can be seen that the channels 53 are formed in the plate 52 so that when it is assembled with the element 54 the outer edges thereof are in a radial plane and the outer edges 58 of the channels 53 are also in a radial plane. Thus when a plurality of the leaves 51 are packed close together in abutting relation a sector-shaped assembly is formed which fits snugly in one opening 48 of the cage 47 in abutting relation with the inner side-walls of the adjacent tie bars.

' In order to retain the leaves 51 in the cage 47 each of the plate members 52 and corrugated elements 54 may be provided with longitudinal extending projections 59, 60, 61 and 6'2 as shown in FIGURES 5 and 6. The projections are of a suitable size corresponding with the circumferential grooves 49 and 50 in the annular rings 41 and 40, respectively, so that the projections are circumferentially slidable therein. Thus by removing a tie-bar '44 from the cage 47 each leaf can be inserted by first inserting the projections in the slots 42 and 43 and moving the leaf 51 radially inwardly until its projections register with the circumferential grooves 49 and 50. Then the leaf 51 is moved circumferentially with its projections sliding in the grooves. By inserting, one by one, a sufiicient number of leaves 51 thusly, the opening 48 is filled and the tie-bar 44 is replaced and secured. This forms a complete sector-shaped matrix within an opening 48. The operation is repeated until all of the openings 48 of the cage 47 is filled forming the complete rotor 21. In the embodiment shown there are seven separate sector-shaped matricesrequired to form the entire cylindrical matrix of the rotor 21. Obviously the number of openings '48 in'the cage 47 can be varied if desired with corresponding sector-shaped matrices to fit.

Insertion of each leaf 51in the opening 48 of the cage 47 is positioned against the outer surface 58 of its adjacent leaf in abutting relation thus forming fluid passages 63 and 64, for example, in substantially vradial direction but not in a circumferential direction. Thus when hot exhaust gas from the plenum 28 moves outwardly through the pas-sages 63 and 64 of each leaf 51 in the exhaust zone between the sealing members 25 and 26 (FIGURE 2) the leaves 51 become heated. As each leaf 51 moves by the sealing member 26 cold air from the plenum 18' moves inwardly through the passages 63 and 64 and the heat in the leaf is thereby transferred to the air moving radially therethrough to the plenum 22. From this it can be seen that the matrix of the rotor 21 effectively transfers heat from the hot exhaust gases to the compressed air.

In the event after a period of usage one or more of the leaves 5-1 becomes damaged or warped their removal and replacement can readily be accomplished by reversing the assembly operation described above. Thus repair of the matrix can be accomplished simply and expediently with low cost and yet obtain high heat exchange efficiency.

Having thus described a preferred embodiment of the invention it can now be seen that the objects of the invention have been fully achieved and it must be understood that changes and modifications may be made which do not depart from the spirit of the invention nor from the scope thereof as defined in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. For a heat exchanger of the kind described, a rotor comprising a first annular ring and a second annular ring disposed in longitudinally spaced relation, each of said rings having a circumferential groove disposed on the inward side between the inner and outer peripheries thereof, each of said rings having a plurality of radial slots disposed in equidistant relation on the inward sides thereof, said radial slots in said first ring being positioned in complementary relation with said radial slots on said second ring, a plurality of longitudinally extending tie-bars having a tapered cross-section in a radial direction, one end of each of said tie-bars being removably secured in one slot of said first ring in rigid relation and the other end being removably secured in a complementary slot in said second ring in rigid relation, said tie-bars and said rings forming a rigid cage having a plurality of sectorshaped openings, a plurality of sector-shaped matrices one of said matrices being disposed in each of said openings of said cage in removably secured relation, each of said matrices having a plurality of longitudinally disposed matrix leaves in circumferentially abutting relation forming a sector, each of said leaves being of substantially rectangular shape, one end of each leaf having a first projection slidably engaged in said circumferential groove of said first ring and the other end having a second projection slidably engaged in said circumferential groove of said second ring for preventing movement of said leaf in a radial direction, each leaf consisting of a corrugated element secured on one side thereof to one side of a plate member, said corrugated element having its corrugations in parallel relation extending in a substantially radial direction, said plate member having longitudinally extending channels, said channels being formed to provide outer surfaces on the other side of said plate in a radial plane coinciding With the axis of rotation of said cage, said corrugated element of each leaf being positioned in abutting relation with the plate member of an adjacent leaf whereby each of said corrugated elements provides a plurality of substantially radial passages for fluid flow therethrou-gh in heat exchanging relation.

2. For a heat exchanger of the kind described, a rotor comprising a first annular ring and a second annular ring disposed in longitudinally spaced relation, each of said rings having a circumferential groove disposed on the inward side between the inner and outer peripheries thereof, each of said rings having a plurality of radial slots in equidistant relation on the inward sides thereof, said radial slots in said first ring being positioned in complementary relation with said radial slots on said second ring, a plurality of longitudinally extending tie-bars having a tapered cross-section in a radial direction, one end of each of said tie bars being removably secured in one slot of said first ring in [rigid relation and the other end being removably secured in a complementary slot in said second ring in rigid relation, said tie-bars and said rings forming a rigid cage having a plurality of sector-shaped radial openings, a plurality of sector-shaped matrices, one of said matrices being disposed in each of said openings of said cage in removably secured relation, each of said matrices having a plurality of longitudinally disposed matrix leaves in circumferentially abutting relation forming a sector, each of said leaves being of substantially rectangular shape, one end of each leaf being slidably engaged in said circumferential groove of said first ring and the other end being slidably engaged in said. circumferential groove of said second ring for preventing movement of said leaf in a radial direction, each said leaf consisting of a corrugated element secured on one side thereof to one side of a plate member, said corrugated element having its corrugations in parallel relation in a substantially radial direction, said plate member having a longitudinally extending channel, said channel being formed to provide an outer surface on the other side of said plate in a radial plane coinciding with the axis of rotation of said cage, said corrugated element of each leaf being positioned in abutting relation with the plate member of an adjacent leaf whereby each of said corrugated elements provides a plurality of substantially radial passages for fluid flow therethrough in heat exchanging relation.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,143,082 Shepherd et a1. June 15, 1915 1,654,294 Ljunstrom Dec. 27, 1927 1,843,252 Toensfeldt Feb. 2, 1932 2,909,363 Kolthoff et al. Oct. 20, 1959 2,937,010 Collman et a1. May 17, 1960 

1. FOR A HEAT EXCHANGER OF THE KIND DESCRIBED, A ROTOR COMPRISING A FIRST ANNULAR RING AND A SECOND ANNULAR RING DISPOSED IN LONGITUDINALLY SPACED RELATION, EACH OF SAID RINGS HAVING A CIRCUMFERENTIAL GROOVE DISPOSED ON THE INWARD SIDE BETWEEN THE INNER AND OUTER PERIPHERIES THEREOF, EACH OF SAID RINGS HAVING A PLURALITY OF RADIAL SLOTS DISPOSED IN EQUIDISTANT RELATION ON THE INWARD SIDES THEREOF, SAID RADIAL SLOTS IN SAID FIRST RING BEING POSITIONED IN COMPLEMENTARY RELATION WITH SAID RADIAL SLOTS ON SAID SECOND RING, A PLURALITY OF LONGITUDINALLY EXTENDING TIE-BARS HAVING A TAPERED CROSS-SECTION IN A RADIAL DIRECTION, ONE END OF EACH OF SAID TIE-BARS BEING REMOVABLY SECURED IN ONE SLOT OF SAID FIRST RING IN RIGID RELATION AND THE OTHER END BEING REMOVABLY SECURED IN A COMPLEMENTARY SLOT IN SAID SECOND RING IN RIGID RELATION, SAID TIE-BARS AND SAID RINGS FORMING A RIGID CAGE HAVING A PLURALITY OF SECTORSHAPED OPENINGS, A PLURALITY OF SECTOR-SHAPED MATRICES ONE OF SAID MATRICES BEING DISPOSED IN EACH OF SAID OPENINGS OF SAID CAGE IN REMOVABLY SECURED RELATION, EACH OF SAID MATRICES HAVING A PLURALITY OF LONGITUDINALLY DISPOSED MATRIX LEAVES IN CIRUMFERENTIALLY ABUTTING RELATION FORMING A SECTOR, EACH OF SAID LEAVES BEING SUBSTANTIALLY RECTANGULAR SHAPE, ONE END OF EACH LEAF HAVING A FIRST PROJECTION SLIDABLY ENGAGED IN SAID CIRCUMFERENTIAL GROOVE OF SAID FIRST RING AND THE OTHER END HAVING A SECOND PROJECTION SLIDABLY ENGAGED IN SAID CIRCUMFERENTIAL GROOVE OF SAID SECOND RING FOR PREVENTING MOVEMENT OF SAID LEAF IN A RADIAL DIRECTION, EACH LEAF CONSISTING OF A CORRUGATED ELEMENT SECURED ON ONE SIDE THEREOF TO ONE SIDE OF A PLATE MEMBER, SAID CORRUGATED ELEMENT HAVING ITS CORRUGATIONS IN PARALLEL RELATION EXTENDING IN A SUBSTANTIALLY RADIAL DIRECTION, SAID PLATE MEMBER HAVING LONGITUDINALLY EXTENDING CHANNELS, SAID CHANNELS BEING FORMED TO PROVIDE OUTER SURFACES ON THE OTHER SIDE OF SAID PLATE IN A RADIAL PLANE COINCIDING WITH THE AXIS OF ROTATION OF SAID CAGE, SAID CORRUGATED ELEMENT OF EACH LEAF BEING POSITIONED IN ABUTTING RELATION WITH THE PLATE MEMBER OF AN ADJACENT LEAF WHEREBY EACH OF SAID CORRUGATED ELEMENTS PROVIDES A PLURALITY OF SUBSTANTIALLY RADIAL PASSAGES FOR FLUID FLOW THERETHROUGH IN HEAT EXCHANGING RELATION. 